Ritter's Rant: News from Around the NHL: Leafs, Oilers, Bruins, and More

Written By: Mark “The Hard Hitter” Ritter

It’s official, Patrice Cormier, the cowardly Rouyn Noranda Huskies forward has been suspended for the rest of the season and the playoffs for his careless elbowing of Quebec Ramparts defenseman Mikael Tam.

The suspension is a step in the right direction, but it hardly makes amends for Tam, who may have played his last hockey game.

Tam, who went into convulsions after the elbow, was the latest victim in what is becoming an all too familiar occurrence in Junior hockey. As a result of Cormier’s stupidity, Tam suffered a brain injury and also lost several teeth—and to think Cormier was Canada’s captain at this years World Junior Championships...

The incident, and the subsequent suspension of Cormier, serves notice to all members of the hockey community that careless/negligent actions will not be tolerated. Up for debate is the severity of the suspension.

Some will say that the suspension was too long—they would be wrong, the suspension is bang-on. The only real debate that should be out there is whether or not the suspension should have been more severe. It says here Cormier got off lucky...certainly a lot luckier than Tam.

With a record of 2-7-1 in their past ten games and sitting in 28th spot in the overall NHL standings, the Toronto Maple Leafs sit 11 points out of the 16th and final playoff spot, a seemingly impossible mountain to climb.

There are more than a few reasons for the Leafs demise, none more glaring than their league-worst 3.40 goals against per game average. Clearly, goaltending is a huge issue for the Buds, as is their penalty kill, which, at 69.6 percent success rate, is also the NHL’s worst.

You don’t have to be a rocket science to know what Maple Leafs general manager Brian Burke’s priority is this offseason—defense, defense, and more defense.

It’s all well and good that Leaf fans want to find out if Leafs goaltender Jonas “The Monster” Gustavsson is for real, but, as it sits right now, with the Leafs struggling so badly defensively, it’s impossible for the young goalie to shine.

The reality is, until Burke brings in the right pieces Gustavsson will never get a fair shake, which means, Leaf fans will need to wait until next season to see if “The Monster” is for real and, given Gustavsson’s free agent status at the end of the season, that may be too late.

Gustavsson, who was recruited aggressively by many NHL teams— including the Colorado Avalanche and the Dallas Stars—will, in all likelihood, receive more than just one contract offer from NHL teams this summer. Burke would be smart to ink this young goalie sooner, rather than later.

Having lost four straight, and with a record of 2-7-1 in their past ten games, there are a lot of rumors circulating these days that suggest the Boston Bruins may be considering a coaching change.

On the surface, the Bruins issues would seem to have more to do with it’s player personnel than it does with Bruins head coach Claude Julien. Let’s face it, Julien has been a God-send for the Bruins franchise—he gets more out of his players than most NHL coaches and, as the reigning Jack Adams award winner, he has the resume to back up his abilities.

Firing Julien would be a huge mistake. Simply put, the Bruins players need to step it up. There are no easy answers, not the least of which would be firing the coach.

Hats off to the Edmonton Oilers, who, with 38 points through 50 games, are now the proud owners of last place in the NHL. At 0-8-2 in their past 10 games, the Oilers are playing gruesome hockey and, by all accounts, seem destined for massive changes.

The most likely move should see defenseman Sheldon Souray on his way out of the Oilers organization with several NHL teams in hot pursuit. Souray has waived his no-movement clause and has forwarded a list of teams he’d be willing to join to GM Steve Tambellini.

Once thought to be a premier power play quarterback, Souray has zero power play goals for the Oilers this season and boasts a horrific plus/minus rating of -14. Souray has two years left on his contract, both at $4.5 million through the 2011/12 season.

$4.5 million is a lot of money for a defenseman who has just four goals and 13 points through 34 games, one that struggles on the power play and has a long history of injury. For all of these reasons, whatever it is that Oiler fans think they are going to get for Souray is likely nowhere near what the actual return will be. If I were Tambellini, I'd under promise on the expected return for Souray...

Speaking of underachieving Edmonton Oilers—Dustin Penner, one of the NHL’s most improved players early on in the season, is ice cold. Over the past 18 games Penner has registered just three goals. Add to that his minus -7 rating and you have yourself a diminishing asset.

Nothing for nothing, but three players that missed the cut for Team Canada’s Olympic squad are red hot right now. Over the past 10 games, Philadelphia Flyers forward Jeff Carter has eight goals and 13 points, Washington Capitals defenseman has three goals and 12 points and Tampa Bay Lightning forward Steven Stamkos has registered six goals and 13 point over that same ten game span.

One of the toughest award winners to predict this NHL season will be that of the Jack Adams Award recipient for coach of the year. Buffalo Sabres head coach Lindy Ruff (2005-06 Jack Adams Award winner), the Ottawa Senators Cory Clouston and the Phoenix Coyotes Dave Tippett are the obvious favorites thus far, with Colorado Avalanche rookie coach Joe Sacco also getting a considerable amount of attention.

So, I ask you, who has been the NHL’s best coach thus far?

Until next time,

Peace!